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Spacin‘ were the right kind of band to see in my last time at Glasslands. Live, they’re not a fussy bunch: They take the stage, launch into their thing, and sear your ears without pretense. They’re not guaranteeing an upscale kind of rock show; this lo-fi Philly band is guaranteeing a good time. Likewise, even in its quasi-DIY last incarnation, Glasslands was never trying to be a slick-sheened rock club. Glasslands wanted you to feel welcome as soon as you got in the door, and to have a blast.

Although this was a different formation than the Spacin’/Purling Hiss beast I saw at Hopscotch a few months earlier, Spacin’ played several numbers from that set as well as some others I have come to know well. The band’s cover of MC5’s “American Ruse”, heavily retooled in Spacin’s image, is always a high point. As that eight-minute rocker wound down, the band segued into a psychedelic intro that led into the bread-and-butter mid-set of “Human Condition” followed by “Sunshine No Shoes”. For the band’s moment on the Glasslands stage, they played the appropriate-enough “Empty Mind”, with its heavy-chugging bass line and ample opportunity for exploration.

Even if we won’t be able to visit Glasslands anymore, the spirit of the place will live on elsewhere. Where there are bands and fans in need of a real home, a place where you feel less like a customer and more like a welcome friend, there will be right-minded people there to fill that gap.

I recorded this set with our installed sound system at Glasslands and a soundboard feed by Josh Thiel. The sound quality is quite good and much better than the Spacin’/Hiss set earlier this year, but it’s still gritty enough not to confuse anyone what this is about.

“How do you start when you know it’s gonna end?” Alex Schaaf asks on Yellow Ostrich‘s “How Do You Do It?”. The same could be asked of anyone starting a rock band these days. Or for that matter, a music venue. Yellow Ostrich came onto the scene full of promise, and throughout their five years, they mostly lived up to it, as their popularity soared and the density and complexity of their songs followed. Like a lot of bands these days, this one began as Schaaf’s bedroom project, only growing into a formidable live act after the fact. The first time I saw Yellow Ostrich perform, at Mercury Lounge in 2011, Schaaf was fighting with his vocal loops on “Whale”, putting on a hell of a performance despite the glitch on his first song. Back then, the band had other dates happening at places like Shea Stadium and Piano’s. A year later, they were playing Bowery Ballroom, a confident full band at the top of their game.

But isn’t it painful, in the end, to put forth so much effort, to pour so much of your soul into something, when you know that in all likelihood, a half-decade worth of a run is all you’ll get if you’re lucky? Making music requires so much giving of yourself, it’s hard sometimes to imagine how it can be worth it. You give and give and give, and at best you get a few syncs, a few streams, and hopefully a full house some nights. When things end, chances are that memories will be short. If you matter, in the long run, to a handful of people, you’re lucky.

But if Schaaf and his band felt any melancholy about Yellow Ostrich’s passing, they didn’t show it. It felt right for the band to close things out on the stage at Glasslands, which itself will be no more as of the end of this year. The band will end on a high note, the more confident Cosmos, which pushed their limits while retaining the essential tunefulness of the melodies and intensely personal bent of Schaaf’s words. Tonight the band was on from start to finish, Schaaf bounding across the stage as songs took on added flourishes of guitar and a little something extra in the vocals. This isn’t the same band that started it all, when Jon Natchez joined up to make it a fully-realized creature, but it’s a very good one, equally loyal to Cosmos tunes like “Terrors” and “Things Are Fallin'” as to old greats from The Mistress like “Whale” and the set’s closer, a searing, extra-long “Mary”. While the whole set is streaming below, I wanted to emphasize “Whale”, which has grown so much from that first version I saw played at Mercury. To me this first song on The Mistress is the essential Yellow Ostrich song, and in the threeevolving versions I’ve recorded, you capture the band’s story in miniature. The song has always been catchy, but only this time, the entire crowd sang along.

Those of us who spent much if any time in the music scene just across the East River have found much to mourn this season, saying goodbye not only to institutions like Glasslands and DBA but to longtime bands and friends as well. While a moment has ended, this can only be looked at as torch passed. New York has never been the place for those who don’t like change; change is the essential part of its character as a city in almost every way. For his part, Schaaf isn’t going anywhere — he’s already got a new project, Human Heat, with an EP to its credit. I grinned as the band played The Mistress’ “Hate Me Soon”. The truth is, Yellow Ostrich didn’t stick around long enough to give us a chance to. And most times, that’s just the right way to go.

I recorded this set with our installed Glasslands system, Naiant X-R cardiod microphones and a soundboard feed by the band’s FOH Keith Milgaten. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Split Single is the latest effort from guitarist Jason Narducy, best-known for his bands Verboten and Verbow before kicking off a second career as a sideman in various acts including Bob Mould, Superchunk, and Robert Pollard. Narducy’s long career inspired a whole generation of artists, most notably Dave Grohl, and his new album Fragmented World suggests that he best belongs front and center. You might’ve heard of Narducy’s own sidemen in this effort before, too — that’d be Spoon’s Britt Daniel and drummer Jon Wurster, who’s played with Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, Bob Pollard and many others.

This show at Glasslands was, if anything, proof positive of the power of experience. Narducy and his companions played the Fragmented World material with precision, one song after another delivering on the promise of carefree, infectious power pop without losing momentum. These are songs that feel good to listen to, and that makes them work all the better in the live setting. Appropriately, Narducy was joined for the album’s title track by another player whose recent career was defined by side man work — Doug Gillard (who we saw recently) — who added his guitar work to that sweet short burst of pop perfection. We’re glad Narducy’s back in the spotlight again.

I recorded this set with our installed rig in the venue, featuring Naiant X-R cardiod microphones and a soundboard feed by the night’s engineer Chris Madden. The sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct downloadlinks or the files on other sites without our permission. Feel free to re-post the Soundcloud links. Please respect our request.

Split Single
2014-05-21
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Doug Gillard has had one of those rare long, consistently excellent careers that most musicians would die for. Though the native Ohioan may be best known for his affiliation with the state’s godfathers of indie, Guided by Voices, Doug has a longstanding body of solo work to his credit, as well as stints with many other bands, including his current status as lead guitarist of Nada Surf. On this Tuesday night at Glasslands, Gillard was celebrating the release of the latest of those efforts, Parade On, a record that gives Gillard a chance to show off his guitar skills on his own songs, which, not surprisingly, are filled with excellent hooks.

Having previewed some of this material earlier in the month at Cake Shop, Gillard and his band were in fine form as they showed off new songs from Parade On alongside older Gillard songs like “Me & the Wind” and “Drip-Nose Boy”. For a special treat, Gillard closed the set with one of Doug’s earlier songs “I Am A Tree”, first performed by his band Gem, and later, Guided by Voices. Doug will be back in town opening for Guided by Voices at Bowery Ballroom in May. Hope you got your tickets, as that show is already sold out. Luckily, Doug conducted a raffle for a few at the show, so if you were here, you still might get lucky!

I recorded this set with our installed microphones in the venue and a soundboard feed. The sound quality is outstanding. Enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Doug Gillard
2014-04-08
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

Luke Rathborne is young, has an LP and two EPs under his belt, and he’s just getting started. Rathborne’s 2011 record, After Dark, was recorded when he was a young man of 17; he came here at 18. We found him at Glasslands less than two years later celebrating the release of a new album, SOFT, that refines the sound of those rawer earlier experiments. Styling the performing band simply Rathborne, the group took the stage and kicked off the Replacements-esque “Wanna Be You” without a second’s hesitation. Rathborne is a natural presence onstage, with a refreshing kindness and innocence to go with his rock poise. He may not have even been born then, but Rathborne is clearly a student of the 80s, particularly New Wave acts like the Cars. Most of the songs played clocked in under three minutes and exuded fresh energy. Rathborne closed the set with “So Long NYC”, about the all-too-common story of your dreams washing out. But for Luke Rathborne, his own dreams are very much alive.

I recorded this set with our Glasslands house setup, including Naiant microphones and a mix provided by house engineer Chris. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Rathborne
2013-05-14
Glasslands Gallery
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

[Photos by acidjack – the band and recording are much better than these photos]

Last time we saw Seattle’s Night Beats they blew us away with their energy and ability to delivery a set of straight-ahead garage rock full of songs you’d remember the next day. This show at Glasslands found them in the familiar spot of opening for another critically acclaimed band — in this case, Iceland’s Dead Skeletons — and Night Beats gave a performance that was every bit the equal of their earlier headlining set at the Knit. Even more special this time around, the band played almost entirely new material from their next record on Trouble In Mind, which drops in August. The band is not ready to share the titles of them yet, but it’s safe to say that if you dig their first LP and EP, the new songs will make you happy. The new material features some excellent guitar work at points, including some pretty serious shredding during the second of the new numbers. Keep an eye out in the coming months for more info on the new album.

I recorded this set with the Naiant X-R microphones mounted in the venue plus a soundboard feed from Jeremy, the night’s engineer. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Night Beats
2013-05-08
Glasslands Gallery
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded and produced by acidjack

The Night Marchers slam-packed Glasslands last Saturday for a set of straight-ahead raw punk from veterans of the scene. The band, anchored by guitarist John Reis, who previously led several bands including Rocket From the Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, and Hot Snakes, finds Reis reunited with fellow Hot Snakes personnel Gar Wood and Jason Kourkonis along with bassist Tommy Kitsos. The result is closer to RFTC’s fun-loving rockabilly-tinged raveups than Hot Snakes’ darker fare — Reis is a consummate showman who shows a knack for big rock gestures and isn’t afraid to have fun with his audience, and The Night Marcher’s songs, even on heavier subject matter, come across more as party-ready than angry. The San Diego band doesn’t get out to the East Coast all that often, having waited five years to follow up 2008’s See You In Magic with this year’s Allez Allez. As a result, this crowd came ready for a special occasion, and they got one, with a blistering full hour set that spanned both of their records. Glasslands has a special energy on nights like these, when there isn’t an inch of the place to move and — even in the middle of winter — you begin to think the walls will start sweating. For their part, The Night Marchers gave us something worth waiting for, with several of the Allez Allez numbers standing out, including “2 Guitars Sing”, “Fisting the Fan Base”, and “(Wasting Away In) Javalinaville”. Reis even paused the show to sing happy birthday to a fan. Whoever that guy was, this was a birthday he won’t forget.

hi and lo recorded this set with an excellent soundboard feed by the band’s FOH Nikhil “Mckeel” Ranade as well as our house-installed Naiant X-R mics. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

If the FLAC link is no longer working, email nyctaper for the FLAC files

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

Night Marchers
2013-03-02
Glasslands
Brooklyn, NY USA

Exclusive download hosted at nyctaper.com
Recorded by hi and lo
Produced by hi and lo and acidjack

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